The ongoing conflict in West Asia, triggered by a joint attack by Israel and the United States against Iran, which killed the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, intensified on Tuesday as Tehran continued retaliatory strikes on US bases in the Gulf region.
Iran on Tuesday launched drone attacks on the US embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, sparking a fire and causing minor damage. Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also targeted a United States air base in Bahrain, according to the IRNA news agency. In Qatar, the military intercepted two ballistic missiles early Tuesday.
The IRGC has announced that it is closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil transits and vowed to attack any ship that attempts to pass through.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Israeli and US attacks on Iran and Lebanon has rised to over 600, according to Al Jazeera.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that military operations against Iran are likely to last four to five weeks but warned that he was prepared "to go far longer than that."
US military officials said Monday they destroyed command posts of Iran's Revolutionary Guards as well as Iranian air defense and missile launch sites, in the Middle Eastern war that broke out over the weekend.
"U.S. forces have destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields during sustained operations," US Central Command wrote in an X post.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted a United States air base in Bahrain, the Islamic republic's elite force said in a statement carried on Tuesday by the official IRNA news agency.
"The IRGC announced that... its naval forces carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack at dawn on the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain," IRNA posted on Telegram, using the acronym for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on Tuesday, including a warning for residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of imminent military action.
"Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in the villages which names are shown. For your safety you must evacuate your homes immediately," said a statement by the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Telegram, which listed 50 locations.
Oil prices extended gains and equities fell Tuesday as investors kept tabs on the Middle East as the United States and Israel continued to bombard Iran, while Tehran launched further strikes on neighbours.
The attack on the Islamic state has upended regional energy flows, with the crucial Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of global oil transits -- effectively closed off, fuelled fears of a fresh energy crisis that could ramp up inflation.
Market moves have been comparatively mild in light of the conflict amid hopes that the crisis will be short-lived and not cause a major problem for the global economy.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said Tuesday that it had intercepted more than half a dozen drones near capital Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj.
"Eight drones were intercepted and destroyed near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj," said defence ministry spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki on X.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Monday that the Middle East conflict triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran won't be "an endless war" but could "take some time."
He told Fox News the campaign would be "a quick and decisive action," later adding: "It may take some time, but it's not going to take years."
President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the United States would retaliate "soon" after its embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh was struck by two suspected Iranian drones.
Speaking to the NewsNation network, Trump said "you'll find out soon" how the United States would respond, without providing further detail, after the US embassy confirmed a drone attack that caused "a limited fire and minor material damage."
After the attack, the embassy issued a shelter in place notification for US citizens in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran had been building new nuclear weapon sites that would have been impossible to attack within months, creating urgency for strikes on the country.
"They started building new sites, new places, underground bunkers, that would make their ballistic missile programs and their atomic bomb programs immune within months," Netanyahu told Fox News.
"If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future."
The US Embassy in Riyadh has urged American citizens to “shelter in place immediately,” according to its post on X. The US Mission to Saudi Arabia said the advisory applies to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran, and that non-essential travel to military sites is restricted.
A Saudi defense spokesperson confirmed two drones caused a fire at the compound. Fox News reported the embassy was empty at the time, with no injuries.
Two drones attacked the US Embassy in Riyadh early Tuesday, causing a small fire and minor damage, according to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense.
The incident comes as regional tensions intensify, with Iran continuing retaliatory strikes across the Gulf following recent US and Israeli military actions. No major structural damage or casualties were immediately reported.
A classified briefing at the Capitol left lawmakers with little clarity about the purpose, cost and next steps in the U.S. operation against Iran.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson described the U.S. attack as a “defensive operation” because he said Israel was determined to act on their own against Iran, “with or without American support.”
Johnson said Trump had a “very difficult decision” to make, and determined that Iran would immediately retaliate against U.S. personnel and assets.
But Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said “there was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel.”
Rubio, Hegseth and others briefed the lawmakers, but Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he found their answers “completely and totally insufficient.”
The Trump administration will likely seek supplemental funds from Congress to pay for the operation, they said.